Windows 10: Blue spinning pin wheel, program not responding?

To start, here are the command prompt results. They were done without resetting the Bios but I can set Bios defaults for the rest of the troubleshooting. Is that ok?

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.16299.309](c) 2017 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.C:\Windows\system32>sfc /scannowBeginning system scan. This process will take some time.Beginning verification phase of system scan.Verification 100% complete.Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.C:\Windows\system32>3) dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth'3)' is not recognized as an internal or external command,operable program or batch file.C:\Windows\system32>4) chkdsk /scan'4)' is not recognized as an internal or external command,operable program or batch file.C:\Windows\system32>dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealthDeployment Image Servicing and Management toolVersion: 10.0.16299.15Image Version: 10.0.16299.309[==========================100.0%==========================] The restore operation completed successfully.The operation completed successfully.C:\Windows\system32>chkdsk /scanThe type of the file system is NTFS.Stage 1: Examining basic file system structure ... 254208 file records processed.File verification completed. 8659 large file records processed. 0 bad file records processed.Stage 2: Examining file name linkage ... 649 reparse records processed. 336812 index entries processed.Index verification completed. 0 unindexed files scanned. 0 unindexed files recovered to lost and found. 649 reparse records processed.Stage 3: Examining security descriptors ...Security descriptor verification completed. 41303 data files processed.CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal... 33749440 USN bytes processed.Usn Journal verification completed.Windows has scanned the file system and found no problems.No further action is required. 243567615 KB total disk space. 49530944 KB in 196886 files. 133816 KB in 41304 indexes. 0 KB in bad sectors. 365099 KB in use by the system. 65536 KB occupied by the log file. 193537756 KB available on disk. 4096 bytes in each allocation unit. 60891903 total allocation units on disk. 48384439 allocation units available on disk.C:\Windows\system32>

 

Bios 1101 is the current Maximus X Hero Bios.

 

I have to run some chores but will continue troubleshooting soon. Obviously the Memtest will need to be done overnight. Do you have any idea what might be going on here or where this is heading? Looks like anything at this stage, maybe hardware/software issue.

 

BSOD dump files are needed to asses the problems.
Has the the in place upgrade repair completed without problems?

For Ccleaner un-check:
a) Memory dumps
b) Windows Log Files

For startup and recovery system failure:
a) Un-check Automatically restart
b) reboot after the above change

With this setting when there are BSOD related crashes it should display BSOD Windows with a bugcheck and sometimes it may display the misbehaving driver in the form *.sys. If you see a misbehaving driver please record it and post it into the thread.
Make sure that if you see the BSOD Window that you allow it to run up to 100 % before rebooting so that it has time to create and save the BSOD dump file.

The Memtest86+ version 5.01 testing should take approximately 16 - 32 hours. The testing should be continuous. If there is just 1 error you can abort testing and then test 1 RAM module at a time, each for 8 or more passes.

After 8 or more passes, and the more passes the better the testing, please use a camera or smart phone camera to take a picture and post an image into the thread.

When running the chkdsk /x /f /r switches you will see:


C:\Windows\system32>chkdsk /x /f /r
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Cannot lock current drive.


Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another
process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be
checked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N)

Type: Y
reboot
It may take many hours to complete the fix and recover as it depends on the partition size, problems and free space. For each partition save a notepad report and post a share link into the thread.

The tests that can be performed overnight are:
Memtest86+ version 5.01
HD Tune full error scans
chkdsk /x /f /r

The tests for the CPU and GPU will require observing the computer.

 

I took this from above but this is not the in place upgrade repair your referring to is it?

C:\Windows\system32>dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealthDeployment Image Servicing and Management toolVersion: 10.0.16299.15Image Version: 10.0.16299.309[==========================100.0%==========================] The restore operation completed successfully.

 

Do you want me to perform the in place upgrade before proceeding with the rest of the troubleshooting?

P.S. Regarding CCleaner I usually manually clean individually items and have not cleared the log files or memory dumps in quite some time. Are you concerned some are missing?

Are you concerned about the memory? I have noticed some strange behavior that I suspect may be ram related so a test will be interesting. It is 3-4 weeks old brand new Dominator Platinum DDR4 3200Mhz, it would unusual for such high quality ram to be faulty...

 

Please perform an in place upgrade repair.
This should be a baseline to work from.
After the in place upgrade please reset the startup and recovery system failure settings so that automatic restart is un-checked and then reboot.
For Ccleaner it's best to un-check the items needed for troubleshooting.
After the in place upgrade there will be software used to generate BSOD and then when available the dump files debugged.
These links you can read now but please do not use Windows driver verifier until it is communicated in the thread.
Driver Verifier-- tracking down a mis-behaving driver. - Microsoft Community
Enable and Disable Driver Verifier in Windows 10 Windows 10 Tutorials
Before using Windows driver verifier:
a) backup all files to another drive or to the cloud
b) make a backup image using Macrium
c) make a brand new restore point

The Memtest86+ version 5.01 testing can be done before or after the in place upgrade repair.

 

I will perform the upgrade repair next, after a Macrium image. Chkdsk didn't take too long, about 5 mins, results below:

Checking file system on C:The type of the file system is NTFS.A disk check has been scheduled.Windows will now check the disk. Stage 1: Examining basic file system structure ... 254208 file records processed. File verification completed. 8677 large file records processed. 0 bad file records processed. Stage 2: Examining file name linkage ... 655 reparse records processed. 336746 index entries processed. Index verification completed. 0 unindexed files scanned. 0 unindexed files recovered to lost and found. 655 reparse records processed. Stage 3: Examining security descriptors ...Cleaning up 1357 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.Cleaning up 1357 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.Cleaning up 1357 unused security descriptors.Security descriptor verification completed. 41270 data files processed. CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal... 38024152 USN bytes processed. Usn Journal verification completed.Stage 4: Looking for bad clusters in user file data ... 254192 files processed. File data verification completed.Stage 5: Looking for bad, free clusters ... 48244699 free clusters processed. Free space verification is complete.Windows has scanned the file system and found no problems.No further action is required. 243567615 KB total disk space. 50086152 KB in 196883 files. 133464 KB in 41271 indexes. 0 KB in bad sectors. 369199 KB in use by the system. 65536 KB occupied by the log file. 192978800 KB available on disk. 4096 bytes in each allocation unit. 60891903 total allocation units on disk. 48244700 allocation units available on disk.Internal Info:00 e1 03 00 56 a2 03 00 36 fc 06 00 00 00 00 00 ....V...6.......14 02 00 00 7b 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ....{...........Windows has finished checking your disk.Please wait while your computer restarts.

P.S. How do I retain the spacing in these copy pastes?

 

Regarding the in place upgrade repair do you suspect the OS installation is muddled or are we doing this just to be on a clean slate?

Edit: Sorry I recall you said we do this in case the issue is OS related.

 

Upgrade repair is in (done) but still have irritating pin wheel *Banghead

 

When posting chkdsk results into the thread you can:
a) save to notepad > post a share link
b) post twice into the thread: enter text into the quick reply window > click post quick reply > click edit > post second time and it should appear normal.

For chkdsk /x /f /r and HD Tune > test all partitions/drives

Make sure automatic restart is unchecked after the in place upgrade repair so that you can see if there are any new BSOD. For any new BSOD please post a new beta zip into the thread for troubleshooting.

After memtest86+ version 5.01 and drive tests are completed if both pass the next step will be to create BSOD dumps for debugging.

Once the computer is tuned up (BSOD fixed, malfunctioning hardware if any identified and fixed) then the computer can be placed into clean boot of safe mode to see what happens with the rotating blue circle. That will take time as there is a lot of diagnostic testing (CPU, GPU, RAM, Drive) and Windows driver verifier.

 

So the in place upgrade repair appears to not have addressed the issue. Is there anything else you want me to do before memory testing? Unfortunately I'm going to have to go and get another flash drive to create the bootable memtest86, tomorrow is still a holiday so I may not get into this until Tuesday.

 

The HD tune and chkdsk tests can be performed on all partitions /drives.
Or the flash drive used for the in place upgrade could be formatted for the Memtest86+ version 5.01 testing.
It is anticipated that there will be a Windows upgrade to 1803 sometime in April.
When that happens you may want to have the latest iso.

 

I posted the chkdsk results for C: (OS) a few posts back, did you get that? I have two older Win bootable flash drives with versions 1607 and 1703, is there not much point holding on to those, at least the oldest?

Is HD tune safe? It seems to have a bad community score at Virustotal.com...

Did you gather anything from the BSOD's in log files? Any indication what hardware is involved? Do you have any clue at this stage after ruling out OS files/configuration what is causing the spinning pinwheel?

P.S. There is a definite correlation of the spinning wheel to when something is loading, I just can't recall whether this is normal behavior for modern Windows and the most current available hardware to have the spinning wheel so often. It isn't normal correct?